Life in progress

Tag Archives: Geek Squad


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Nano Poblano – Day 21: Oh yes, I went there

How it should have gone:

Geek Squad Mike: How can I help you?

Me: I’ll start at the beginning, shall I? Here we go. In April, or maybe even March, I came in with my laptop because the battery was shutting the machine off at 70% power. You took it and you “fixed” it, but the battery was still fucked. So your manager promised me a new battery. Last week–yes, 7 or 8 months later–I finally got my new battery. I’d like to know if you can put it in for me. …oh wait! I can answer that question for you. NO! You can’t put my new battery in because you ordered the wrong one!

Geek Squad Mike: I have no idea which idiot ordered the wrong battery for you: here’s a new laptop, free of charge!

 

How it actually went:

Geek Squad Mike: How can I help you?

Me: I got the wrong battery.

Geek Squad Mike: What’s your phone number, I’ll look that up for you.

Ten minutes later:

Geek Squad Mike: (who has been joined by Geek Squad Dillon) We can order the new battery for you. I’ll leave you with Dillon: he knows more than I do. He’s the computer genius.

Me: Yes, he’s the computer genius who ordered the wrong battery for me last time.

 

For some reason, Geek Squad Dillon didn’t think that was funny.

True story.

 

This true story has been brought to you in conjunction with Mr. Mark:

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and PoBloCompMo

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Why I Love Best Buy’s Warranties and Other Updates

After posting about yesterday’s disaster of a day, I thought I’d write a quick update on how my today is going so far.

To start with, I slept in an hour past the time I ignored my first alarm, so I didn’t drag myself out of bed until 6:30 – which is like noon for me. Okay, I’m exaggerating a little. But I’m not beyond saying truthfully that I was exhausted. That meant Alex didn’t get on the bus this morning, because he was still feeding when it came by. The good news is, he was feeling much better. For him it was like yesterday never happened, which makes me want to scream in frustration and cry with joy, simultaneously.

With him off to school, I gathered up my laptop for a trip back to Best Buy, to complain that they didn’t fix my problem. I was told first off, that they didn’t change the battery after all.

Me: But… you told me you did! (This was to the same Geek Squad guy I talked to yesterday.)

Geek Squad Guy: (Looking through a pamphlet.) They didn’t change it because it wasn’t under warranty.

Me: But… I was told when I brought it in that it was.

Geek Squad Guy: Hmmm… (wanders away)

For a full two minutes (2 minutes!) I stood and stewed. Then he came back.

Geek Squad Guy: Your warranty didn’t cover the battery, but I just talked to my manager and I’ll order you another one and replace it for free. Sorry about the confusion.

Me: (Jumping up and down with glee and reaching over the counter to kiss him…) (Okay, not really. I might have smiled a little.) Thanks.

Their extended warranties are a bit pricey, yes. But they’re so worth it. My first laptop proved to be a lemon. They replaced it with a brand new one, two and a half years after I bought it, after three major repairs. Can’t really beat that. The one that replaced it had a problem with the power cord connection (in the machine) so I sent it back with a week left to go on the three year warranty. It came back with that fixed, plus they discovered it needed a new motherboard; it hadn’t broken yet, but was on its last legs. And now that they have a free loaner program, even if I end up with a lemon, I’m never without a computer. I actually HOPE I buy a lemon.

Fixes are still nil – but I haven’t given up.